Now that a few days have passed from the high of Opening Night, I become a ball of nerves once again. Most people think that once a show has begun performances, the hardest part of the process is over. To me, I think that this line of thinking is a dangerous trap to fall into. Especially when you have 4 days off in a row. This is when complacency tends to sneak in. Complacency because Opening Weekend went so incredibly well. So now, some people could convince themselves that it’s unnecessary to put any energy or thought into the show. This is when you forget to think about the show, because you have new things to do and think about during the time that you would have been rehearsing. Some people have significant others to cuddle with during the evening instead of pouring over their scripts or thinking about dance steps. Personally, I try and figure out what I can do differently, better, but differently. I tend to dwell on any oddity that happened to me or that I created during the show, and how I can fix it or make it work. Because of this, I love to have brush up rehearsals so that the first show you return to is just as good as when you left the weekend before.

Well there’s another reason too.

So far this show has sold pretty well, but I really really want West Valley Light Opera to have a HIT! A big fucking smash hit show. Sorry for the expletive, but I feel that it was the only word that could emphasize it the way I meant it.

The super-finale is actually more fun than I thought it was going to be because of all the snow. It starts with hearing a room full of people singing a Berlin classic, and then it tears into a frolicking snowy good time and everyone looks so happy! I love looking out into the audience and seeing the people smiling, or nodding their heads in time to the music or best of all singing along. That happened on Sunday’s performance. I saw a bright and cheery lady singing along with me during “Best Things Happen When Your Dancing.” She was sitting in the third row and just looked like she was having the best time ever and that’s only the fifth song of the show, and there are nearly 20 of them! To top that off, there was a lady in blue right in the front row that was beaming the biggest smile during “I Love a Piano” when the Duncan Sisters were singing their part. I know that the possibility for having that hit exists with this production, but I worry that one bad performance could jeopardize that chance.

This Friday’s show isn’t selling the way I hoped that it would, but there are $20 tickets available. Maybe that will help. I hope that people who have come to see the show, get the word out that it is a good show. I do have to say thanks to my BFF over at NotBlueAtAll, for the incredibly kind words and for attending Opening Night. Also, a big thanks to Ronnie Misra for all of his amazing support.

If any of you have seen the show, please leave a review, especially if you loved the show, at Artsopolis. Like Ronnie did!

I love working with this company and I worry about it sometimes. They are one of the few companies that take chances on their casting and don’t constantly cast the same handful of people for their shows. Another company that takes chances is Sunnyvale Community Players, and I applaud them for that. But, they are getting back on track, so they don’t need as much help. When I began to make the rounds in the area for auditions WVLO was one of the first to give me opportunities and to this day continues to do so. Needless to say, I feel like I owe them in return because they have always welcomed me with open arms. I am keeping my fingers crossed that there are 13 more full houses for this run. Please cross your fingers with me.